Plenary Speaker Dr. Schöne addresses Pastors and Deacons Conference

Bishop Emeritus Jobst H. M. Schöne

CALGARY – Tuesday saw Lutheran Church–Canada’s (LCC) National Pastors and Deacons Conference in Calgary begin in earnest, following Monday’s opening worship service.

“This conference is not intended to be legislative,” President Robert Bugbee noted in the conference program. “We are not here primarily for business. We have other gatherings for things like that.” Instead, he wrote, “we are coming together to hear God’s Word, to take our place at Christ’s Table, to sing, to pray, to listen, and to learn.”

“As servants of the Word, we’re going to dig deeply into Scripture,” President Bugbee continued. To that end, Tuesday saw plenary speaker Bishop Emeritus Jobst H. M. Schöne of the Independent Evangelical Lutheran Church (SELK) in Germany begin his four-part presentation on 2 Timothy, St. Paul’s final letter before his martyrdom. In his addresses, Dr. Schöne is explicating the book and explaining its continued relevance for pastors and the Church today.

Dr. Schöne served as Bishop of SELK from 1985 to 1996. In addition to his work in Germany, he has lectured frequently in Latvia, Estonia, South Africa, the United States, and elsewhere, and has published numerous articles and books. Video of Dr. Schöne’s presentations will be made available following the conference.

Tuesday also saw convention attendees take part in a number of different workshops, which continued on Wednesday. Workshop options and presenters included: Preaching and Proclamation (Rev. Kurt Reinhardt); Evangelism (Rev. Larry Gajdos); Family Ministry (Deacon Monica Schultz); Technology and the Parish (Rev. Michael Schutz); Planning for a Secure Retirement (Dwayne Cleave); and Human Sexuality (Bishop Greg Pietsch).

Bishop Greg Pietsch

For the final workshop option listed above, Lutheran Church–Canada was pleased to welcome Bishop Greg Pietsch of the Lutheran Church of Australia (LCA). Bishop Pietsch was elected Bishop of LCA’s Victorian/Tasmanian District in 2005, and has served in that position ever since. In April 2013, he was elected to serve as the LCA’s Assistant Bishop, in addition to his role as a district bishop. Bishop Pietsch has dedicated considerable time and energy into formulating a confessional Lutheran approach to current issues surrounding sexual orientation.

Tuesday evening was dedicated to providing space for informal discussion groups, with suggested topics including Ministry with New Canadians; Your Upcoming Retirement; The Church Down Under; Reaching First Nations; and Social Media.

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